#blue scales and the town of sand

[kuronekkosan]

[mangacapsaicin]

youko komori’s a blue fish scale and the town of sand || 小森羊仔の『青い鱗と砂の街』

[obsessivevoidkitten]

A Lovesick Leviathan

Male Leviathan x Gender Neutral Slime Reader (CW: Painless noncon, inhuman reader, size difference, kidnapping, magical branding, temporarily frozen reader, general yandere behavior, minor character death, extreme violence towards minor character) Word count: 3.3k (Piece developed with a lot of input and help from @maxog3n, they also did the amazing art posted with this piece. I am sorry this took so long, but really hope you all enjoy it.)

Screams of pain, some ominous cracking sounds, and then silence.

Auggie let out a defeated sigh as he peeled the body of the human he had just fucked to death off of his cock, their pulverized insides mixed with his blue cum and leaking out everywhere.

Like the others that had died to his amorous pursuits, he hadn’t meant to kill them. In fact, he had loved each one of them and wanted them to be his mate. He carefully determined a suitable candidate, brought them home against their will, and eventually couldn’t contain his lust anymore and fucked them.

The problem was that he was not human. He was a leviathan and his massive member was simply too huge, both long and thick, and his thrusts were powerful. None survived even a single round with him.

He shed a tear as he buried his latest victim.

Then he wiped it away and immediately regained his usual jovial composure. That’s okay, they just weren’t “the one”. He had to expect these kinda snags every now and then if he was going to put himself out on the market.

It was just how dating worked.

Auggie decided that he needed to clear his mind and leave his shack for a while. Get some fresh air. Maybe he would add to his collection of items. Much like a mermaid, leviathans like him hoarded trinkets and baubles.

He made the decision to hit up the old abandoned building a few miles up the coast from his seaside abode. He did not know what the building had once been for, but he was very adventurous and was always looking for new stuff to add to his collection of treasures or materials to extend his shack with.

The leviathan definitely didn’t feel like going into town. Sure, the humans all fled and he could take whatever he wanted, but he did not want to deal with the panicked screams. Plus, he had already done that a dozen times, he wanted to explore somewhere new. And besides, the town was a lot farther than the abandoned facility and he didn’t feel like being out too late. Not with the long he had.

Auggie left the confines of his ramshackle house, and waded into the water, the blood from his previous “mate” leaving a faint trail of blood behind him as he swam up the coast towards his destination.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

You were thrilled, your home was finally starting to feel cozy. Or whatever passed as cozy for a saltwater slime.

Spending all your life in the water just did not appeal to you, the surface was just so fascinating. You had spent a little time among some open-minded humans, but you longed to be closer to the sea.

So when you found a brine filled desalination plant completely abandoned for you to do with as you pleased you knew you had found a home from which you could explore the surrounding land and retreat to should the need arise.

It had taken a while, a little over a month, for you to tidy the place up and get things how you liked it. You had decorated the place with seashells, dead corals, and current smoothed glass to make everything feel more natural. You had even covered the first floor with a thick layer of sand!

Everything was perfect.

Just when you were admiring the work you had finally completed when you heard the stomping of a large animal of some type approaching.

You peered out the window and gasped.

A huge… thing… approached.

You had no idea what he could be. You only assumed it was a he because of the giant uncut cock flopping from below the most tiny and useless loincloth imaginable.

The lumbering behemoth had a chubby build, striking blue skin, scales from his ankles to his knees and from his wrists to his elbows, he had fins where a human’s ears would be, sharp teeth, and his dark medium length hair wasn’t hair at all, but instead a writing mass of tentacles.

He came closer and closer to the desalination facility, your home, it was clear it was his intent to enter and not just pass by like you had hoped.

The best option was to hide yourself. Luckily you were crystal clear, like gooey water, and could camouflage yourself easily.

There were many steel barrels along the wall to catch water from a sometimes leaky roof, you decided to hop in, even if he peeped in all you would just blend right in with the water that was in it.

Seconds after you got in you heard the door creak open.

Auggie took a few steps in and looked around the place, getting a handle of his surroundings.

The place had sand everywhere. And dried corals, shells, and smooth glass everywhere. Odd. It clearly wasn’t as abandoned as it had appeared to be from outside.

Maybe there was a potential mate here! If he wanted to find his soul mate he knew he had to be open minded about finding his partner wherever they may happen to meet.

And whoever called this place home had an aesthetic he enjoyed. They lived in a run down building not entirely unlike his shack, they were opportunistic like he was and they decorated the place to be like the ocean from which he originated.

He was sure he would get along well with whoever lived here.

You could not see him from your current position in the barrel, but you could hear him walking around and sniffing as if hunting for something.

Auggie explored every nook and cranny, using his sensitive nose to guide him, but even though it was clear as day that someone was using this as a home he could detect no scent other than that of saltwater.

Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to return to his original mission, seeking out trinkets for his treasure hoard and possibly materials to build with.

He found some rope and used it to tie some sheets of metal to his back, but other than that he hadn’t found much for his home. Carrying these he wouldn’t be able to swim back, he’d have to walk back at a leisurely pace.

Auggie started to head towards the doors to leave, as he did you heard the sound of his footsteps retreating and were so relieved.

But it was premature, he was disappointed in his haul so he took one last glance around the room just in case he missed something. He spied some pristine barrels in the corner. He could always use a nice new barrel!

The giant invader found one that was full of water, likely from that storm last night, it was pretty hot and since he had to walk back a refreshing splash of water would be nice and cooling should he need it on the return trip home.

You panicked as you and the water around you sloshed as he picked up the container that was currently serving as your hiding place. But your only option was to remain hidden for as long as you possibly could and make a break for it when you could.

Despite not having a traditional stomach you still felt very nauseous at being jostled with every step your unwitting kidnapper made. With how you were disoriented, you could not even give an accurate estimate of how long you had been in your current predicament, what was probably just thirty or forty minutes felt like unending hours.

Finally the moving about came to a stop, maybe he was home, maybe he would leave the container outside to use for water collection, you dared to hope. But these hopes were short lived as the behemoth lifted the container up and poured it over himself to cool off, causing you to tumble out in your default humanoid shape and reflexively grab on to whatever you could to prevent falling.

Whatever you could grab was the man who invaded your home, your gel-like arms around his broad shoulders.

You stared at each other for a moment until Auggie got a slight blush that was quickly replaced by a huge grin, revealing two rows of razor sharp teeth.

A brand new romantic interest just fell right into his lap! Well, you weren’t on his lap yet, but there would be time for that soon enough.

When you had recovered from the shock of being dumped directly on to this strange blue man you pushed yourself off of him and fell to the ground with a wet plop.

You started running.

“Hey wait! That’s really rude! I haven’t decided if I’m your boyfriend yet!!!”

What the hell was wrong with this guy? You heard him utter some strange mystic sounding words before hearing an odd whoosh and suddenly you felt indescribably heavy. Your vision frosted over and you fell over. Hard.

Everything was so cold, you couldn’t move at all! You had been completely frozen, evidently this crazy man had ice magic. Just your luck.

“Don’t worry, I am pretty sure I will be your boyfriend! I liked all the décor in your former home. We have so much more in common than the people I normally date!”

He walked up to you slowly, picked you up carefully, and then placed you back in the barrel he had been unwittingly hauling you in.

This manner of being handled was… humiliating to say the least.

Once again you were jostled around in the barrel, now without water and with more pain in your newly acquired solidified form. It was so restrictive. You were used to being more free moving than what a solid being was capable of and now here you were completely paralyzed.

Once again, the trip felt like it was taking an eternity. Except now it was worse, as every second was punctuated by the deep seated fear of what may become of you when the journey ended.

You also were forced to contend with the large man’s non-stop talking.

“I’m Auggie! I am so glad we met. I think it was probably fate. Like we were meant to find each other! I haven't met many slimes before. Only a couple times when swimming and I couldn’t see them well enough in the water to bring them back to date…”

You tuned Auggie out after a while. He just wouldn’t stop talking about how happy he was and how he had been in need of a new partner.

Finally you thawed out enough to talk, though you were still too stiff to move quickly.

“What is wrong with you!? We are NOT dating!!”

“Oh~ You have such a lovely voice! I am so happy to hear it. We are definitely dating now so I can hear you talk everyday~”

He hummed happily as he continued about his merry way, leaving your objection completely unacknowledged.

“Excuse me!? I just said we are NOT dating!!”

Though the words he spoke were… demented… he said them in the same happy go lucky jovial tone with which he had been speaking, “Don’t be silly, of course we are. I already was sure I would like you based on your home and with us both being sea critters, but after hearing your voice I simply can’t be without you~ I am so sorry if I implied you have a choice!”

After letting out a defeated whimper you went silent.

Auggie continued babbling about all the stuff the two of you would do together. As your destination approached he started running, he was just so eager to get you nice and settled in your brand new home.

You grunted in annoyance as you were bounced about in your glorified bucket.

“Oh. Heh heh. Sorry, I just got carried away.”

He slowed down to a brisk walk the rest of the way.

“We’re here!” He shouted in a chipper manner. For a totally psychotic kidnapper hellbent on forcing you to be in a relationship he sure was cheerful.

The barrel was placed down with a thud before he pulled you out. You were thawed to the point of being like a slurry and his warm hands felt rather nice.

Though you’d still rather be anywhere else.

You saw his home and were shocked, how could anyone live in something like this? It was a towering mass of junk. Large slabs of metal and wood cobbled together. It was actually kinda impressive how structurally sound it appeared to be despite the building materials used in its construction.

Auggie slung your chilled form over his shoulders without warning, eliciting a startled sound from you.

He opened the doors and set you down on a rugged chair that was clearly meant for beings around your size. Humans.

How many people had been forced to accept Auggie as their “boyfriend”. Were you going to die here?

You took stock of your surroundings, if you were ever going to escape you would need to know potential weapons, escape routes, and hiding places.

But honestly you didn’t even know where to start, the building was huge as it was meant for such a large being like Auggie. And it seemed like he had the same inclinations as mermen when it came to collecting objects of interest. Though instead of valuables like coins, gems, and shells Auggie seemed to be interested in… a different sort of collection.

Mounted on the wall as if some sort of poster was a set of doors that read “Tony’s Bar and Bistro”. Standing in the corner was a surfboard that looked as if a bite had been taken out of it with a lifebuoy around it. Other items strewn about the place included a slot machine, street signs, and a child’s tricycle.

There were random items in all sorts of places.

The ceiling was no exception. Hanging upside down from the ceiling, above even Auggie’s head, were several random and out of place items. Though the strangest of all was a… parking meter? You couldn’t be sure, you had only stealthily visited a human city a couple times.

None of this stuff helped you though, and it seemed the only way out was through the large front door.

Without any warning Auggie crouched down in front of you and stared intensely with a smug grin.

“I bet right now you are thinking of ways to leave aren’t cha? Without even giving our love a chance! Don’t worry I will take the burden of worrying about freedom away!”

He held his webbed pointer finger to your chest and muttered a complex incantation. You didn’t notice it before but he had a tattoo in the shape of a trident on his thigh, it glowed with a blue light as he uttered his spell and suddenly you had a matching tattoo marked on your chest.

It didn’t harm you at all, but his wicked grin coupled with the mark’s magical origins worried you.

“Wh-what’s that…?”

“Do you like it? It’s my brand! It means you’re alllll mine~”

You gave a face of disgust.

“It’s okay if you don’t believe it yet, some people are just slower learners. That’s okay.”

Your only reply was to glare at him silently.

“You’re never leaving me.”

You chose to just keep shooting him an angry look. It didn’t matter what he thought, you would slip away at the first opportunity. You were a slime, slippery and versatile, there were very few ways you could be contained long term. And he couldn’t just keep re-freezing you every single time you bolted.

“Haha, what? Don’t believe me dummy? Okay then… go ahead…”

With a smirk he got up and went to the door, holding it wide open for you.

“Go on, leave.”

He gestured you out the door and you didn’t hesitate, maybe he thought he could freeze you, or close the door, or push you back somehow, but were prepared for anything. You were positive that the smug expression was wiped from his face as you took on a taller and slimmer shape and zipped on by before he could react.

You got maybe all of 15ft. away from the shack before you were yanked back by some invisible force and landed on the ground.

“What th-”

You heard the heavy footsteps of your captor approach from behind.

“Have you caught on yet cutie? I told you, you’re allll mine~ My little mark on you ties you to me, you will never be able to go very far.”

For the first time that day you truly felt despair. The thought you could get away was the sole barrier that had prevented you from giving in to the filling of hopelessness that now threatened to consume you, but that was gone now. You were left with nothing but soul crushing helplessness… that and Auggie.

He scooped you up and carried you back to his house laying you in his large and rather decadent bed, a stark contrast to the ramshackle state of the rest of his home.

Auggie stood by the bed and positioned your legs to hang off of it, you guessed at what he was planning but were too caught up in your sense of doom and despair to react properly or mount even the slightest resistance.

“Awww, don’t be sad darlin’, this’ll be fun!” He chuckled with his normal sense of joy and lack of care for what anyone else wanted.

The leviathan stroked his cock to its staggering full length and lined it up between your legs.

You did not have an entrance there. Slimes simply absorbed plankton or other nutrient sources through their membranes and deposited what was indigestible in the same manner, and there was no conventional reproductive system. Slimes of your type would meet, partially join limbs, and create an egg.

But that sure didn’t stop Auggie from penetrating you anyway.

Luckily your slime body was extremely durable and felt little pain from such actions. He slammed into you right through your membrane, gripping your sides as he pulled you down to the base. His blue precum leaked into your body, leaving blue streaks where it dissolved.

He moved you back and forth like a fleshlight, like you were just some toy for his pleasure, not a living being with your own agency.

You were entirely limp in his hands, just a nice gooey warmth around his cock, feeling neither pleasure or pain from his ever increasing thrusts.

No, as you stared up at him, being moved back and forth on his cock, the only thing you felt was an uncomfortable pressure. And an overwhelming sense of violation.

Finally he pushed in as far as he could, his dick drilling all the way into your head as he unleashed his glowing blue cum into you. He let out a relaxed sigh as his cock lay inside you throbbing, still drooling more and more seed into you from his huge nuts.

Auggie finally pulled out of you, his semen had made your entire body swell considerably and it turned you from clear and transparent to a bright and faintly glowing blue as your body absorbed it like food.

“Oooh, you took my cock so well and became even prettier! It definitely means you’re meant for me! And it looks like my cum is good food for my gooey little darling too~ Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to feed you plenty EVERY. DAY.”

Your existence as a slime, what once granted you versatility and mobility. What you considered a blessed existence better than being a restrained solid, was now the cause of your loss of any freedom.

Because now that Auggie was in love with a mate that his cock couldn’t kill he was never going to let you go.

[phoenixcatch7]

Welcome to the environmental lore photo collection that took me three weeks to do! We shall see if we can fit all the photos in!

Okay! For purposes of this compilation I'll not be talking about either seasonal areas or the war! Because those are whole separate topics, and well...

We know enough. Also, I had to lighten several photos, so they might look slightly off to experienced players. It's so you can see!

So, the very first area -

Forgive the quality, this is their second compression lmao. As you can see, we start off with pretty standard Sky Kingdom architecture - blue stone with pale blue paint, topped with gold almost-spikes. There's a landing area from valley (middle left) but it's almost entirely flooded with cloud so good luck landing on it now lol. An overhead walkway (bottom left) that only appears elsewhere in the valley citadel and skate race. Unsurprising, given the proximity.

The interesting things are the campfire, the lanterns, and the broken bridge (top left, right, and bottom right respectively).

The huge campfire and the rows of lanterns speak of low light levels and temperatures. The nature of the wasteland is pollution and corruption, so it's easy to think the thick, dark cloud layer blocking out the sun is a result of that, and thus came about later in the timeline. But it seems to be early enough that ancestors made their own countermeasures to the darkness.

The broken bridge, of course, led down. It's sizable. I wonder what it looked like, before the hurricane? Perhaps they used shuttle boats like the village of dreams? Unlikely - there's no boat debris anywhere on either side, but it's an interesting thought. Either way, it tells us the hurricane wasn't always there...

^ Enter the wasteland proper, and you're met with this. Everything is half buried in sand, the water is toxic, and there's not a candle to be seen (except of course on cake days, as you will see later XD) - this will remain true for the whole realm. Under the hooked arch in the bottom pic is the sapling (clinging on for dear life, surely) and the dock leading to Enchantment.

What purpose the listing building in the centre pic does, I don't know, but if you squint under the left arch in the bottom picture, you'll see there's another one (with nothing inside). Given its placement, it could be assumed one had to pass through it to reach the main entrance. It's highly unlikely they were homes.

Similarly, all those giant broken arches could have enclosed a vast area the size of a small town (figuratively, if we consider the dream village and the aviary) - they're all pointing at each other (as best they can). Valley has proven the smaller version of these are to be walked on, so perhaps guards or manta riders could patrol on them? You do crashland enter under the only standing arch, after all.

The paths, centre right, also seem to be doing badly. Their solidity and thickness means they're not simple flagstones or paving like other areas in sky - they're heavy duty, lined with I believe to be more of that golden metal that bent instead of crumbled. They were built over unsteady ground. Whether that be the sand and toxic water they sit in now or just normal water remains to be seen.

If you look left, you'll see a distant... Factory of some kind. Middle left picture. Pipes leading in or out of it. Whatever it is, production, water purification, waste disposal, it probably doesn't work anymore. If you've played Journey (sky's predecessor), it's strongly reminiscent of an area where you build a temporary bridge connecting the broken arches so you can cross into the enormous building ahead. It's a fantastic sense of scale, to realise that this ancient civilisation ringed a significant portion of way around the base of this gargantuan mountain.

Half buried statues guard the crumbling entrance - smaller than the gigantic ones in the valley stadium, but pretty much the same otherwise lol. Given the amount of buried rubble around them and the chasm in the stone above, did something burst in... Or out? The mystery isn't solved on the inside, but at least the corridor isn't completely blocked. Sky kid (me!) for scale! It's interesting, how apart from the obviously ceremonial dramatic valley statues, these are the first things we see of anything resembling combat or even weapons. A culture which has a concept of militaristic might. They're guarding something important. (Vault, duh.)

No! Unlike what you'd think, the important thing becomes clear immediately. The collosal, toppled bell (I always wondered if they were hollow), the odd ceremonial structure it landed by (top left), those funny diamond bells (top right, top left if you squint), the studded cylinders (bottom left). The hastily stacked rubble blocking the krill's sight (bottom middle), the ripped open roof (bottom right).

It's identical to the forest elder shrine. This is a temple. Could this have been the original location of the wasteland elder shrine? The only remaining proof of a secret eighth elder, now subsumed?... A cool shaped building the architects took and ran with? We don't know. Whatever it was, it was clearly of great import. Most likely ceremonial, or for worship, or, heck, the equivalent of a podium specifically for big grand speeches. When the roof was there, it was an enormous, grand room, guarded by stern stone giants twice over and blocked by the same great doors that hide the forest glade. The ones that light up and spin and only open after meditating and meeting the elder...

There's no sign of those doors now, which is impressive. Probably where they got the stone for the krill blockade and the hiding places along the little bridge. Good thing they're gone, then, because those magic hinges seem to have run out of juice and gone dark. My theory is they were there to keep people out - a barrier between the last traces of peace and the battle torn graveyard we're about to walk into. (Another potential point in the 'prev wasteland elder location' - an ancestor would have to pass through him to enter, and the enemy on the way out.)

There's pipes now, too - I can only believe they were a later addition, given how haphazardly they coat the walls, and the industrial pollution aesthetic much more suited to the grimy, bleak wastes of today than the gilded ceremonial hall this once was.

Just off the left after the main temple area, there's a large room, ceiling also torn off. I can only describe them as pedestals, but what stood on them I don't know. My first thought when I found this place as a moth was a wardrobe/constellation/friend constellation thing, but it's??? Eh. If it were statues, they're long gone with no sign, and they're not big enough for anything mobile. This room served a function, that much is clear, but if decorative or practical I doubt we'll ever know.

^ The graveyard. This is its actual name, I believe. Fitting. The wasteland title promised us Vault, that's all this place is now good for, so that must be the vault we see looming in the background, tower reaching into the low clouds. (If you've played Journey, you're already familiar with the tower idea, so it's easy to slot the two together.)

Here you'll find, uh, krill. There's four here, the highest concentration of krill in all sky lmao. You'll find giant skeletons. You'll find sand. Toxic water. And that's kind of it.

Interesting things abound, however! There's a fleet of sunken, broken boats (middle left), a campfire now overgrown with dark plants (not shown) and a giant crab roasting campfire with a poor, beloathed by the community, crab loving spirit (middle). We can only assume he's the one who built the campfire! Thanks dude! Please have an easier relived memory! (should we call it a seance??) Now, given the guy is an elderly dude who carries a guitar and spends his time chasing crabs all across the dang map, he's probably not a warrior. Heck, with the amount of crabs, he probably arrived after the pipes. After the war, even? On the middle right pic is the weirdly undecorated entrance to the sunken ship.

Of course I looked at the skeletons and compared them! Each wasteland one had tiny scratches or notches in the spine spikes, and yes they aren't there on the other, but otherwise the size and shapes are identical! These skeletons are whales, as proven by the skeleton in forest haunted by the whale whisperer! The poor forest whale died of head injury colliding with the building, so there's every chance these guys were also used in warfare for similar reasons - maybe even specifically bred to fight the krill - but it could also have been a tragedy of mass extinction during what turned the graveyard into what it is today. :( That you can find a Rythm spirit in a skull tells us the troupe came about a LONG time after the deaths.

^ To the shipwreck! The first pic I caught during the shard event (though they landed all the way in prairie!) lol. It looks so ominous... Outside of the seasonal enchantment beauty, this is the biggest vessel in the game, and much more utilitarian. Unlike SS Enchantment, this thing was a tanker, not a home for those on board.

Featuring - the only decorated pipes in the kingdom (middle left)! Life boat deployment cranes (bottom left)! A beached lifeboat, bottom right :(. A boat still attached (feat me). More of those weird diamond bells for cargo, which proves they were a valued commodity and at least semi mass produced and shipped around the kingdom! More than the craftsman in prairie, or the tree fellers in forest, they prove a thriving, stable kingdom steadily advancing in technology and society! And the boat being pointed to the temple - incoming goods? Potentially, for Vault?

The krill decided it didn't want to be in the top pic, but I swear he's there XD... Most likely what sank the ship, tbh. It's not caught on some rock, or ledge, or ditch. In fact, the bottom is more intact than the top!... I think the krill escaped the warzone and caught the arriving ship, possibly spotting an unlucky crewmate through those big arched windows. The memory of the saluting captain walks the wreckage of his ship, sending away a loyal crew member on the second last life boat, back out to sea. Whether it's the boat dashed on the rocks or if they escaped the krill I don't know, but we know the captain didn't. Crab whisperer passes through later, so we know the light seekers are also post event.

We've reached the entrance to the vault! It's.. Smaller than it looks from a distance. Vault must be a shorter building hidden behind it, or far enough away it vanishes into the smog. Under a shard event sky, the black waters look like blood.

The first thing you see of the battlefield is the large, imposing building, now listing to one side and rimmed with stakes (cheval de freise, if you want to be fancy. Large caltrops... When your mounts and enemies can fly). There's only one spirit here, lookout (middle left). Whether it was supposed to be a temporary building (UNLIKELY) or whether they didn't build it properly and the sandy ground subsided over the aeons that have passed between then and now is up to interpretation, but at least this time the lack of roof seems intentional. I'm more annoyed it doesn't line up with the temple, I had to stand literally on the right wall to get the bottom picture and it's still slightly left!

Lighting the crystal triggers three krill to emerge from the ground and start hunting. (One time I visited some unknowing friends who triggered the gate... A krill emerged less than a metre from me with no warning... Terrifying XD.) Previously they used to spawn basically on top of the players and you had to run for your LIFE, but now they take a leisurely stroll in your direction, so you've got plenty of time to wander your way to safety. Maybe stop and get an ice cream. Boring :/. In terms of lore very fascinating and scary, given the last stand and the aurora concert both seemed focused on defending the crystal. This whole time... It was rigged. By which side, I don't know.

The shrine! ^

From the outside, a large, ominous building covered in pipes and statue towers. On the inside, an octagonal chamber many stories high. Like the rest of wasteland, what little decor there is is chockers with that hollow star shape that symbolises light, the king, all that good stuff. There's six ginormous double doors ringing the chamber, all tightly shut. My first thought was six realms, one war council. Nothing to prove or disprove that lol. It would have been a great place for diplomacy, though, without the shrine statue. Sand everywhere, probably through the gaps in the ceiling lol. Beautiful door.

Wasteland elder himself!!! His weapons are the ones arranged on his shrine - whether that means he can manifest in the world and grab them or if they're stone recreations of the ones he carries at all times, I don't know. He's never been seen in any memory or cutscene of war, so maybe he can't manifest... We know the isle elder can, in the song runaway of aurora. His space is the very same place as the Crystal outside his chamber, facing out, and he points his spear towards where the kings star would be, the crowning jewel of his tower. We can safely assume whatever his role, he was defending Vault and Eden behind it. And he succeeded.

There's so much to talk about with the vault door. Top left, the closed wasteland/vault door. Bottom left and right, the closed forest door. Centre and top right, the open vault door. You'll notice more diamond shapes and boat imagery. But in wasteland, the jewels that presumably power the great door are missing, black. The double switches, inactive. Even when activated, no line traces up and no light appears - only the outlines of the stars and speckled lights hidden on the door itself. If that's not divine intervention from the elder, I don't know what is lol.

Pass through into vault, and see its beauty untouched. But turn around, and see the mounds of golden sand blown in from Wasteland, settling in the still air. Vault acknowledges its protector.

Some final thoughts:

^ For some reason, probably that it's the only place it's not very visible, the shipwreck is the only place where the kings star is absolutely massive and has a ring. Every other place, it's normal! It's probably an old design tgc forgot to update with the rest lmao.

^ An entirely accidental realisation due to my research. Man I love environmental storytelling. Nearly every detail of the mask matches the skull! The IMAGERY.

^ My first attempt to get a good shot of wasteland instead caught a first person witness to an expert krill dodger! I didn't get to talk to them, but know you were caught being very cool in high definition!!

^ I didn't get to talk about this theory before, but every entrance and exit to the graveyard and next door shipwreck EXCEPT their connecting corridor are all huge drops in altitude. Both are the only places you find boats. Both are sodden with black water. The ground is uneven. There's whale skeletons. My theory is that these areas were once entirely submerged! Water areas! Shipping and naval battles and cargo! Abyss proves krill can survive perfectly under water - and all emerging krill do so from water!! It'd explain the sand and the debris and the beached boats and all!

Elder shrines do like their slitted roofs. This is prairie. 'S why I wasn't theorising about the sand in wasteland lol. Gotta get the dramatic shafts of light from somewhere!

The open door and two beautifully poised strangers - well done on completing wasteland! I hope you enjoy vault!!

Pipe theory: these things pop up at the entrance to wasteland and follow you all the way through to the shrine, disappear in vault, and then reappear. They go all the way to the point of no return in eden!!! They're either taking something up, or, considering the amount of pipes that open into black water areas, the general gravity situation of vertical pipes... It's likely they were siphoning something away. Sewer pipes, but evil. Maybe trying to wash away whatever corruption happened to the Eye? It didn't work... Poisoned the waters instead. Maybe they carried water up to the Eye like a kingdom sized cooling system and that drained the waters??

And the photo that started this whole thing, the day I climbed the wasteland temple...

that's not smog. That is a wall. That is the biggest wall I have EVER seen.

Do you see the line under the clouds? The sky box? The 'horizon'?

YOU'RE ALREADY LOOKING AT VAULT.

TGC YOU MOTHERS OF DUCKS.

[beatinginavoid]

The Lake

Part 2 of 6. Part 1

-------

Stay away from the lake.

It was the main rule of the isolated town near a large lake. Parents warned their children, pets were never let loose, no fishing gear was made or kept, and anyone that visited the out of the way town was pulled aside and warned by just about everyone they saw.

The lake itself was quite a sight. Its water was a lovely clear and light blue, with soft white sand at the edges, like the cleanest of beaches. Various species of fish could be seen swimming around. Waterfowl, ducks, and swans all called the place home, and it was the main water source for all of the local wildlife.

Someone dressed in blue had come to the town to research the lake. They heard all of the warnings and waved them away.

“It’ll be fine!” they insisted. “I’m just here for research. I’m a smart person, I can take care of myself.”

So what happened when they went to the lake?

— — —

You observe the landscape from atop a hill. The lake was just as pretty as you had heard. It was like a slice of paradise – a glimpse of heaven on Earth.

How could no one from the town not want to fish here? Flashes of silver scales were visible through the wonderfully clear water. What a rich and abundant food source simply going to waste!

Still, you were here to research the lake, not the townsfolk. You walk down the hill until your feet begin to sink in the finest, whitest sand you have ever encountered. You crouch down and run your fingers through the sand. It was warm and almost velvety, giving no resistance against your skin.

Walking down to the water’s edge, you pull your satchel off your shoulder and set it down. From inside it you extract a glass phial and dip it into the water. You look at it, seeing no debris or impurities, and carefully cap it, wrap it up and pack it away. A second glass phial full of sand joins the first.

You grab a third and look up, wondering about a plant sample. Two large black eyes, an alien feature set in an otherwise human face, stare at you unnervingly. Fin like structures take the place of ears, and the hair resembles seaweed so closely you doubt you could tell them apart.

Their skin was a very pale blue, like a frozen corpse, and they raise a webbed hand out of the water. Every finger is tipped with a shiny black claw that looks sharp enough to shear flesh with the lightest pressure. The fingers bend, beckoning you closer.

The third phial slips from your now slack grip and you blink dumbly. You refuse to move, resisting whatever unnatural charm they possess. Too many tales of humanoid seafolk luring people to their death made you wary enough to stay firmly where you are.

The creature tilts their head before giving you an odd little wave and swimming backwards, seemingly giving you some extra space.

That was oddly nice. Was it a trap?

Neither of you move and you begin to sweat. Your breathing picks up and your heart speeds up in tandem. Things now felt more like a standoff.

Time ticks on and the atmosphere feels more and more tense. The creature has yet to budge, aside from the occasional flick of an ear fin. Those big dark eyes never blink and it sends a shiver down your spine.

Your breathing is now panting. You put a hand on your chest to try and soothe your racing heart, but you can’t feel the muscle pump against your ribs and hand. You frown, glance down at your chest in confusion, then look back at the water-dwelling being.

It lifts its head out of the water and smiles without showing any teeth. Both of its hands become visible in the air, twisting around in strange motions. Water from the lake funnels into the air and forms into a rough sphere. It is supported by one hand while the other is fisted and inserted into the sphere. The fist is opened and closed a bit in a constant rhythmic manner.

Imitating a heartbeat.

Oh.

OH.

This creature had somehow managed to encircle your heart with water? It was essentially drowning your precious organ? Could a heart even drown? Your eyes widen and you clutch at your chest, a look of panic on your face.

The creature grins, showing off a top and bottom row full of needle sharp teeth. It gives you a warbling, gurgle hiss.

The damn thing is laughing at you.

Your chest is starting to hurt. It’s also starting to feel heavy and you take a deep breath. Your lungs don’t expand as much as they should. If there really is a bunch of water in your chest cavity, then it’s stealing space away from your lungs. The panting is beginning to make creepy sense, but you can’t stop yourself from panting harder, trying to draw in as much oxygen as you can.

You have no idea if any of that life-giving air is making it to your submerged pump. It must be, if only from the fact that you’re still alive. Legs still frozen in place, the sand becomes much less inviting to be upon as the creature lazily swims towards you.

Its body breaches the water at the shore, exposing a long, fish-like tail covered in scales of shimmering blue and green hues. A mermaid? It stalks forward with both arms, dragging its glistening body toward you.

Your already speeding heart begins to beat harder, but you barely feel the pounding, an odd muffling in effect. Breathing becomes more of a chore, your chest feeling tighter and heavier. Your fingers curl, clawing, into your blue shirt.

Ear fins flick again and the creature lays down on their back. Another water sphere is created and the fist simulating the heart is placed inside once more. The quickly beating fist is swung side to side inside the sphere, dancing in the liquid with every contraction.

Your palm presses flat, hoping to feel your pumping muscle push against it in defiance of what the creature was showing you.

Nothing.

The being grins again, flipping over and resuming their crawl. They reach you in seconds. With another eerie laugh it pulls your hand off your chest and presses an ear fin to it in the hand’s place. Its eyes fall halfway shut and the manic grin becomes a content smile. Whatever it can hear of your heart that is currently drowning clearly makes it happy. An odd trill leaves its throat and it pulls away, still clutching your forearm.

Your breath hitches, a sharp ache shooting through your chest, as the creature pulls you along on its retreat. Back, back to the water it goes, hauling along your unresisting body for the ride. It trills again as it reaches the water, excitement written all over its face.

Oh no. It wasn’t enough to try and drown your ticker, now the creature was just going to drown you outright!

The being knocks you over backwards and transfers its grip from your forearm to your ankle. A few more seconds of air will be granted to you this way. As you lay on your back, it feels as though an elephant is standing on your sternum and rib cage. Your panting breaths turn wheezy and gasping, wondering if this is how a fish out of water feels. You can vaguely feel faint beats of your heart now, accompanied by a swishing noise like listening to your pulse in a seashell.

It isn’t right. None of this feels right.

You’ve been tugged into the water up to your neck. You panic further and take the biggest, deepest breath your compressed lungs can manage – which isn’t much. Then you’re under and swiftly hauled to deeper water. The creature stops abruptly and comes up against you, ear fin over your heart again, while their big black eyes are focused on your face.

Water carries vibrations, you know this, and you can now hear your distressed pump thumping away directly in your ears. The beats are weak, sloppy, wonky, fast, and irregular. There are skips, missed beats, and awkward pauses as your heart flails about in its watery cocoon. The pressure of the water, the pain and heaviness you feel, is stopping the powerful muscle from moving as it should. The water is crushing the muscular walls of the organ, the uneven rhythm speeding up even more as it opts for sheer quantity of beats to make up for the quality. 

Not that your heart’s efforts will have any real impact as the oxygen stored in your lungs is steadily depleting. You twitch and spasm involuntarily, every cell in your body screaming for air. The creature remains glued to you, gently gnashing its fangs in time with your heart’s beleaguered beats.

Then the air is gone. You try to thrash around in a last ditch attempt to break free, but the odd sort of hug it has you in is paralysing. Bubbles burst from your mouth and nose as your chest constricts.

Still racing and irregular, your thumping organ stutters and pounds greatly, screaming for relief you knew was not coming. The creature chitters eagerly. Your heart rate decelerates, normal beats becoming rarer, and the number of pauses increases. The length of the pauses becomes greater and greater as your heart slows down.

Ba-thumpthumpthump…………thumpthump…………ba-thumpthumpthumpthumpthump…………………ba-thumpathump………………………thumpthumpthump……………………

Your body jerks fitfully, using up the very last of all stored resources. You suck in a breath, drawing water into your crushed lungs, and cough weakly in an automatic response which only serves to drown you further. Your eyes slide closed and your coughing ceases in moments.

Each slow beat resounds in your ears and mind. The pauses grow longer. Your heart stops pumping, a pause that hasn’t ended. Darkness engulfs you, body and mind, as the water becomes your grave.

The creature slices through your flesh with those wicked claws, starting at the base of the sternum and following the outline of the left side of your rib cage. A webbed hand and forearm plunges into the large incision and wriggles about. With a swift yank, the limb is retracted and your lifeless body is cast aside.

Red swirls mix into the water from the bloody mess it holds. The heart looks forlorn, still and detached, under its hungry gaze. The creature takes a bite. A set of needle sharp fangs make quick work of the cardiac muscle, red swirling about as the blood is released from the chambers.

It trills and laughs after it swallows the last bite.

Stay away from the lake.

-– — —

I knew about cardiac tamponade before this, but I made sure to do my research for the symptoms. The heart literally swings inside the fluid-filled sac and all of its sounds are muffled.

I didn't want the water being to simply drown the victim. Too cliche lol

🫀💧🫁

[goodlucktai]

since your on a roll maybe a prompt with little sanji and little luffy. Mostly it be nice to see how fast the little monkey wants the blonde boy who can cook to be his friend. 5 year old luffy would see kid sanji and go, " want to be friends?"

x

The Orbit docks at Dawn Island. 

It’s a little farther out of the way than they usually sail, but there were very well-paying guests on board at what would have been the end of the cruise who wanted to be taken all the way to their home of Goa Kingdom. 

Captain Chas strikes up a conversation with the harbormaster, one seasoned sailor to another, and the harbormaster divulges that it might do him well to stay in port. The people of High Town love an excuse to spend their money on a good day, and with an upcoming visit from a Celestial Dragon, they’re even more inclined than usual to flaunt their wealth. Once word gets around that there is a luxury cruise ship at the wharf that offers fine dining and a cocktail lounge, they’ll show up in droves. 

“Make yourself scarce for dinner service,” the head chef warned Sanji very clearly. “These people will take offense as easy as breathing, and I don’t want to lose my best kitchen boy because some middle-aged noblewoman didn’t like the way his uniform was pressed.”

So once all the food was prepped and ready for service, and the staff was taking their last break of the evening before the rush, Sanji was shooed away by the grown-ups and told to entertain himself for the night. He goes easily enough, stopping by the bunkroom to change out of his white service uniform and into secondhand trousers and canvas shirt and boots. 

He doesn’t always get the chance to explore when The Orbit is at port, and he was warned to stay clear of High Town—but Sanji isn’t even looking toward the kingdom walls. He heads in the opposite direction, running down the pier toward the beautiful beach that stretches out of sight around the natural bend of the island. 

The waters are so clear. There are tropical flowers blooming along the coastline that add something fragrant to the sea-salt in the air. A gull cries overhead and Sanji imagines, just for a moment, what it would be like to find All Blue. 

Then he collides with someone hard enough that he goes sprawling backwards.

“Ow!” someone whines from right in front of Sanji. He lifts his head in time to look right into big brown eyes, all watery with hurt, as the little boy he ran into says petulantly, “You made me drop my fish!”

Bewildered, Sanji looks down. Sure enough, there are a handful of huge, colorful fish flopping weakly in the sand between them. They look too big to have fit in the kid’s scrawny arms in the first place.

“Sorry,” he says, for lack of a better thing to say. “The sand will come off easy when you scale them.”

The boy blinks. He rubs the rest of his crocodile tears away, smearing grubby fingers across a pencil-mark scar that curves beneath one of his eyes like a smile.

“Scale them?” he asks curiously. “They already have those.”

“No, you know, de-scale,” Sanji explains. “When you get the skin and scales off to cook them?”

He feels a little too big for his skin under the other child’s undivided inattention. Attention is usually a bad thing. Sanji has always been safer when no one knew he was there. He’s just barely gotten used to his kitchen supervisor hovering at his shoulder, reaching in to guide his hands away from a mistake. 

This boy is smaller than Sanji, though. Most of the people who want to hurt him are bigger. That makes it easier to talk to him.

“We just roast them on the fire and spit out all the yucky stuff!” the boy declares. 

Sanji thinks that’s the worst thing he’s ever heard. “What about the bones?” he says, not sure he’s ready for the answer.

“They’re crunchy but not big enough to choke on or anything.” 

Standing up abruptly, Sanji picks up two of the fish. They’re heavy, someone’s very lucky catch. The younger boy scrambles up, too, face contorted into a scowl and mouth opening around what is probably a very loud protest, but Sanji beats him to it. 

“Let me cook these for you properly,” he says firmly. “I’ll show you what fish is supposed to taste like.”

He watches wonder take over the boy’s face. He’s expressive, bouncing from one feeling to the next like he wouldn’t know the first thing about sitting still—not like the way Sanji’s brothers’ faces would always clutch onto anger or derision or mean-spirited glee for days, the way his father’s face was always chiseled into a displeased frown. 

This kid has cycled through half a dozen emotions in half as many minutes, and now he’s already moving onto something new. He smiles brightly, sand in his hair and tear tracks on his face and a gap in his smile from a missing tooth. 

“You’re a cook?”

Sanji nods, because that’s what he’s always wanted to be in his heart—but something in him that still shies away  from lying, even after weeks of pretending to be a displaced orphan to the kind people who took him in on The Orbit, makes him add, “Almost. I’m still learning. My name is Sanji.” 

“Sanji! I’m Luffy!” 

Luffy’s hands come up and catch on Sanji’s sleeve, sticky and stubborn, already tugging him in the direction Luffy wants him to go. Sanji has no idea, in that moment, that those hands are never, ever going to let him go. 

(If he did have any idea, he might have prayed again for the first time since mama died, just to say thank you.)

“Come meet my brothers,” Luffy demands, equal parts spoiled and sunny in a way that manages to just be charming. “But just remember, I found you first!” 

[inkymers007]

Meet my Zelda BOTW/TORK oc! Sorry that the pic is kind blurry I'll try to draw him more down the line. I made him for an rp server and I decided to share him on here.

BASIC INFORMATION

Name: Kalvet

Nicknames: Kal or Vet

Age: 26

Gender/Sex: Male

Sexuality: Pan

Species: Hylian/Shekiah 

Occupation: Traveling Merchant/ Thief

APPEARANCE :

Body type: Skinny, but muscular

Height: 5’7

Weight: 159 lbs.

Skin: White

Hair color/style: Blackish blue. His hair is long and messy.

Eye color: Red

Scars: His right eye is scarred.

Accessories: N/A

PERSONALITY:

Basic Personality: Kalvet appears to be a kind and smooth talking gentleman. Which is true, somewhat. He appears that way to get clients to purchase his wares. As well as to throw people off his scent of being a thief. On the job as a thief he’s silent and ruthless. Almost as if Kalvet’s a monster rather than a human. Yet despite this he isn’t heartless and will give support in some way or fashion. How much support he’ll give depends on how close he is with the person who needs it . If they’re a stranger or an acquaintance he'll give them the bare minimum. If they're friends then he’ll do whatever he can to help them. However, having someone that close to him is rarity since Kalvet has the belief that most people will just like him to get what they want. So he tends to be cordial with people at best. If he does find someone who he wants to get closer to then he will be more friendly with them, but he will still keep his wits about him. With those who he considers as friends he will playfully tease them and will open up to them a bit more. Once he recognizes them as a friend he will be loyal to them. More than willing to go through hell and back for them. This is especially the case if someone gives him a scale from one of the great dragons. Since he always looked up to them because of the stories that his family told him. Speaking of, Kalvet is a great story teller, and will tell stories that his parents told him or stories about his travels. 

Likes: Dragons, dragon scales, exploring, finding new places, hot springs, voltfruit, sweet foods, telling stories, campfires, the desert, sand seals, riding sand seals, zora’s domain, swords, Faron, myths and tales

Dislikes: The Yiga Clan, the Yiga Clan hideout, spicy foods, people asking about his eye, bows, the cold, Hebra, lairs, getting into Gerudo Town, getting up early, and being a burden to people

Strengths: Kalvet is a very skilled swordsman and even knows how to use two of them at the same time. In fact his main weapon is two hook swords. Kalvet is also very perspective and remembers little details about anyone he meets. 

Weaknesses: Isn’t trusting of people and will bottle up his emotions.

RELATIONSHIPS:

 Parents:

Mother and Father= Deceased

Gerudo Woman (haven't thought of her name yet)= Adoptive Mother

 Siblings: N/A

 Friends/Acquaintances: Link, Impa, Purah, Paya, Robbie, Jerrin, Granté, Beedle, Kass, Riju, Pritana, and Nali

BACKSTORY:

Kalvet lived an average life in a small village. The village was small enough where everyone knew and got along with each other. He had parents who loved him as well as friends that cared for him. Despite being an only child, Kalvet had many children around his age that he could play with. He played with them so much that he considered them all as siblings. Every night before he went to bed his parents would tell him the stories of the great dragons. Kalvet was so fascinated by the dragons that he always dreamed of seeing one, or at least getting something from them like a scale. Kalvet swore that when got older he would take his parents to see the dragons. However when the boy was 12 his life changed for the worst. 

During the return of Calamity Kalvet's village was attacked. Not only by the Calamity itself, but by some Yiga Clan members. The once peaceful and beautiful village was now nothing more than ash and ruin. The fire roared throughout the village as he tried to save his parents, but unfortunately he couldn’t save them. Kalvet tried to find some of his other villagers. While doing so he found out that one of the older children joined the Yiga Clan. Feeling enraged and betrayed he went to attack him, but Kalvet couldn’t even come close to him as he was slashed in the eye, making him blind. Despite that he still tried to fight, it wasn’t until he was knocked out that he stopped.

When he woke up he saw that the Yiga Clan had been long gone, but his eye was patched up by some of the knights that had come over to check things out. Kalvet had explained everything that had happened, The knights swore that they would find and kill the Yiga who burned and killed everyone in his village. Well, almost everyone, that person who joined the Yiga might as well have been dead to Kalvet. As he residented him and resented everyone. Stealing from any and everyone for survival. It wasn’t until his teenage years where he started to trust people again. That was through his adoptive mother, a gerudo. It took him a while to trust her, but once he did the woman had taught her how to use swords. Particularly the hook swords. Still angry at the Yiga he vowed to steal any and everything from them just like they did to him. He would even make money off of them by selling their equipment to anyone who would buy it.

[watercolorfreckles]

Deep Blue - Part 3

Part 1, Part 2

The sea became an inky black, or maybe that was just his vision tunneling. His head swooped with hungry shadows ready to swallow him down into that darkness.

The pirate blinked forcefully, shaking his head and tossing away with it the heavy tug of unconsciousness.

He had to stay awake.

He could see, now, that the water wasn't black, but red. With every stroke of the siren's tail, plumes of blood sullied the water.

The siren's movements began to slow, and the claws gripping the pirate's collar eased. He glanced down at her, through the bleary haze of salt water.

The siren's eyelids sagged. With a final languid sweep of her tail, the siren fell still, drifting motionless in the brackish water.

The pirate ripped away from her, kicking for the surface. His lungs ached and his ears popped with the changes in pressure.

Breaching the surface, he gasped in a greedy gulp of air. Coughing and panting, he scanned their surroundings.

The view was different, now, than it was where they’d entered the water. His attention snagged on the hollowed-out, fallen tree that helped orient him: They had traveled a significant distance around the crook of the bay. The fisherman was no longer within sight.

The shoreline wasn't terribly far. He could certainly swim that distance, even if it left him aching.

His gaze traveled back down to the smear of bloody waters around him. The siren was hurt badly...

If he left her, she would bleed to death.

Groaning, the pirate dove back down. He squinted, eyes readjusting to the darkness until he found her again. She looked almost peaceful then, suspended in the silky depths, golden hair floating around her head like a halo.

Grabbing the beautiful, deadly creature under the arms, the cabin boy hauled her to the surface. When he broke through, his breath came ragged with effort.

Keeping hold of the siren, he reclined to float on his back. He kicked his legs and towed her with him.

It was a slow and grueling process, fighting the waves that tumbled over his face to stall his breath. Only able to use his legs to swim, dragging the dead weight of the siren required all the strength in his arms.

It felt an eternity later that the pirate collapsed on the sand next to the beautiful, deadly creature he'd lowered down with care.

His limbs burned.

But the siren was still bleeding.

The harpoon had splintered in half upon impact, leaving its head buried within the scar of jagged flesh it had carved into the tight knit of her scales.

The sunlight traced the angles of her face, ethereal and unmoving in sleep. She looked like the sort of statue carved of marble that artists spent an eternity molding to angelic perfection. The gold of her tail outshone the sun.

Her blood stained the sand.

He groaned again. "Why do I feel responsible for you?! You just tried to kill me! If I left you here, that would be my right."

The pirate watched the siren as if expecting a reply. 

Throwing his gaze heavenward, he murmured a curse.

She would never survive here on the shore, not after his boss had the opportunity to flood gossip through the whole town of what he'd seen.

He shoved to his feet despite the protest of his legs.

"Alright, alright, I won't leave you, Golden. Don't worry."

The pirate slid his arms under the siren, bracing himself before heaving her into his hold. His muscles strained with the effort and he swayed on his feet, off balance.

He clenched his teeth and took one step, then another. He finally stepped into the treeline, carrying the mermaid the painstaking distance back to the abandoned cabin he'd claimed as the place to rest his head since coming to this dull, little town. 

Kicking open the door, the pirate plopped the siren onto the bed, shoving the door shut again and letting himself crumple to the floor.

He still needed to tend to the siren's wound, and he would. Just after a moment's reprieve.

After the first slow blink, his eyes were too heavy to open again.

He fell into slumber as though sinking over the edge of a drop-off.

---

The cabin boy woke to the sound of screaming.

He sat up in a panicked jolt. "What-"

His gaze met the siren's.

The... former siren's.

Where her tail once was, two human legs sprawled in its place. The spearhead and wound were still there, however, marring the smooth flesh of her bare upper thigh.

The pirate quickly averted his gaze. "What-" he repeated.

Fury burned behind the gold of the former siren's eyes. "What have you done, you insufferable human!" she screamed.

Snarling, she lunged at the pirate, promptly wobbling and crashing to her knees.

The cabin boy caught her by the shoulders.

She recoiled from his touch, hissing and swiping at him with nails far duller than the claws she'd once possessed.

Easily snatching up her wrists and squeezing, the pirate held her still. "Easy. Easy. You've lost a lot of blood."

Their eyes met. Hers, a knife's point. Her bare chest heaved with quick breaths.

The pirate made a point not to look.

He could see the exhaustion sweep over her as she slumped back against the bed frame, pressing a hand to her wound.

The cabin boy let her go, watching her carefully. "I'm going to get something to stop the bleeding and clean that. Don't move."

He felt her gaze on him as he retrieved a bottle of rum, a towel, a wooden spoon, and a spare bed sheet. Returning to her side, the pirate carefully lifted her back onto the bed.

The siren hissed again like an animal and skittered back until she hit the wall. "Get away from me."

"I'm trying to help you, Goldie," the pirate said, exasperated. "That could get infected. Besides, do you expect to walk around with that broken harpoon in your leg?" He paused and blinked. "Granted, I haven't deigned to expect you to walk... at all." He gestured to her newfound limbs.

The siren bared her teeth. "This is your fault! Any siren can give up their tail by venturing onto land and drying out. Such is a disgrace! Should a siren want to subvert herself into human scum, the ocean will indulge her."

The cabin boy raised his hands in placation. "Then when you're better, I'll take you back to the water."

"No," she snapped. Her gaze dropped down to her legs, blonde waves curtaining her face. When she spoke again, her voice was raw and soft. It carved its way through his chest all the same; the warbling hum of a plucked violin string. "It... It cannot be undone."

Something twisted in the pirate's stomach.

He should be glad to leave the ocean with one less monster; to make the waters an ounce safer for fellow unsuspecting sailors.

His thoughts flashed to the heaving storms able to capsize ships; to the rocks and reefs the sailors must avoid, and the gaping expanse of open ocean when no land is in sight.

Sailing the Deep Blue was never about safety.

Dangerous as the creature before him had been, she was a creature of the sea. To take that from her would be to cleave the fins from a fish, or cut the wings from a bird and call it justice.

He swallowed. "I'll do what I can for you, Golden," he said softly, lifting the towel.

The siren flinched, eyeing him pointedly.

Meeting her gaze briefly with a look of what he hoped was reassurance, he proceeded slowly, pressing the towel around her wound. "I need to get the spearhead out. This won't be pleasant. Bite down on this." He held the wooden spoon out to her.

The siren glared but obeyed, taking it between her teeth.

The cabin boy did his best to ease the spikes of the spearhead out without ripping it out straight backward. Harpoons were made to hook into the blubber of whales, not with the intent of slipping free seamlessly.

When he'd positioned the weapon so that he could remove it with the least damage possible, he pulled it out.

The siren shrieked, dropping her head back against the wall.

"Shh, shh, all done, it's done," the pirate said, pressing the towel more firmly against the wound. "You did great. All that's left is to clean and dress the wound." His hand moved on its own, tucking the siren's hair out of her eyes.

Her attention snapped to him. But she didn't bite or claw or hiss.

For a moment, he could only stare, transfixed.

Becoming human did not dull the allure of her.

Clearing his throat, the pirate bit the cork of the rum bottle, spitting it aside. "This will sting..."

He poured the alcohol over the afflicted flesh and the siren softly screeched again.

"I'm sorry, golden, all done, see?" Quickly tearing the spare sheet into strips, he set to work wrapping the wound and tying the makeshift bandage off. "There."

He glanced up at her again. "Oh. Here."

He shucked his white button-down shirt off and wrapped it around the siren's exposed shoulders.

Her face creased with confusion as she lifted one sleeve.

The cabin boy's lips twitched up into a smile. "You put your arms through. Like this." Using gentle fingers, he helped her thread her arms through before working on the buttons, averting his gaze and fumbling awkwardly as he did so.

"There." When he looked back up at her face, the siren was already asleep.

He studied her in the dimming light. Something about her registered as angelic. Nothing so deserving of the title of sea demon.

And yet… It would be foolish of him to let himself become ensnared by the lethal creature that wanted nothing more than to drown sailors such as him. Beautiful as she may be.

What had he gotten himself into?

The pirate leaned back against the wall and listened to the steady swell of the siren's breathing.

Part 4

Thank you to @valiantlytransparentwhispers and @writing-on-the-wahl for being betas :)

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[nihilnovisubsole]

how are you finding ffxiv btw? curious to hear what you think of it so far if youre open to sharing!

i wrote up some early impressions here! tl;dr, it's got me good. the people who said i'd like it were absolutely right. i'm enjoying talking about it, so have some more

it's funny to see how many of the game's incidental quests follow the "you look like an adventurer" format. "you look like an adventurer, go save my cat from that tree," "you look like an adventurer, bring me a blue flower with red thorns," etc. it's a format i've been banned from using at my job - our narrative policy is that it feels gamey, and questgivers should always have a deeper reason to solicit the player specifically. that said, even the starting cities have a dizzying amount of sidequests, and you can't afford to be precious when you're writing at that scale. hat tip to the writers for having to come up with it all!

i mean, really, it blows my mind how much there is to do. i worried that i was chewing through the ARR story too quickly, but my friends keep saying this is only the beginning? omg

i find myself chasing a kind of roleplay that i haven't before: one that revolves around the game's time-of-day system. since cutscenes [in general - i guess some are forced] match the current weather and light, i've been scheduling cutscenes around what seems most cinematic or plot-appropriate. i waited until nightfall to do the greenbliss festival and hear the grand company speeches to make them more solemn. by coincidence, i fought foulques during a downpour, and it felt so much more dramatic. so did crossing thanalan at nigh noon. you know that bad thing that happens at the waking sands? i trudged all the way to the church alone in the dead of midnight afterward. now that's kino!!

oh yeah, those veteran friends i mentioned earlier? they're obsessed with which eligible bachelor i'll attach my character to. i'm so flattered. how can you not be. getting ubereats deliveries of "yeah, this one is a miserable bastard, you might like him." i'm told that the game implicitly encourages this sort of thing by stressing how much your player means to the major characters. no wonder you've all been having so much fun over here

i made some rookie mistakes in the character creator, so no screenshots yet ): thank goodness you get a free fantasia eventually

i have more details cooking, though. i see her as a fallen dragoon who thought she'd failed at being a hero and has been given a second chance. starting in gridania was less a "newbie lancer" thing and more a kurosawa "stranger comes to town and solves its problems by the sword" thing. she's also been forged-in-battle friends with raubahn for many years, and i've heard he gets a lot of story, so i'm looking forward to that.

don't worry, i've been forearmed about what happens-

[the vaudeville cane drags me offstage]

[apomaro-mellow]

Part 2

Eddie had been floating around the ocean, minding his own business, when a large splash sounded nearby. When he swam over, he saw it was another mer, lying limp on the ground. What happened to him? Where had he come from?

Curious, he turned him over and froze for two reasons. First, this was the man he had saved from drowning. And second, he was just as beautiful as he remembered. Chestnut hair that moved with the gentle waves, shiny blues scales on his tail... Why was he a merman now? And what was he doing here?

"Hey. Hey! Wake up!" Eddie shouted and when that got no reaction, he shook him by the shoulder.

That finally got some fluttering of the eyes and Eddie didn't have a mind to back up and give the stranger some space. So when those dark eyes opened, he was front and center. They looked dazed before coming into focus and landing on him.

"Hey", Eddie said in a weak voice with a wave of his hand. He cleared his throat to speak a little more strongly. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Meanwhile, Steve was still trying to process it all. He was underwater. And breathing! Breathing underwater! He had a tail. And he couldn't hear a thing. Oh and there was an incredibly handsome merman trying to speak to him.

Oh, he was holding his face now.

"Hey, is anything getting through to you?" Eddie cupped his cheeks, hoping to get him to focus.

For a dizzying moment, Steve almost forgot about the merman he was looking for. Almost. He didn't have a lot of time. Maybe this guy could help him out.

"I can't-" Speaking without hearing was so weird. Even if he was sure of the words, Steve couldn't be certain exactly how they were coming out, so he spoke softly. "I can't hear." He saw the other mer make an 'oh' with his mouth and assumed that's what he said.

He moved to the side and started to write something in the sand. Steve turned to his side to see before the currents washed it away.

'Eddie'

Eddie pointed to himself. So that must be his name. Steve wrote his own name in the sand and then looked to Eddie in time to see him form his lips around his name. Huh, so that's what it looked like. Steve decided to be proactive and wrote another word down.

'Searching'

'Who?', Eddie wrote.

Steve tried to think of the right word. He supposed he didn't need to specify merman. So he wrote down 'singer'.

Eddie was surprised at that to be honest. A deaf mer looking for a musician? Then again, he didn't know the whole story. Maybe it was a friend who happened to sing? Maybe the whole lack of hearing thing was a new development. Maybe he was looking to hire a singer for something.

Then Steve wrote down 'help?' and Eddie just couldn't resist that. A handsome mer pretty much dropped into his lap asking for help. How could he refuse. Eddie gestured with his head to follow him. They'd have better luck in town than out here near the shore. Eddie began to swim, expecting Steve to follow, only to hear a soft thud behind him.

When he turned back, he saw Steve try to lift himself up onto his arms and wiggle his tail with little success. Of course. Steve hadn't risen up once since waking up. Whatever he fell from was still effecting him. His tail could be injured or he could just be fatigued. Eddie swam back over and didn't hesitate to gather Steve in his arms.

Steve looked surprised but thankfully didn't struggle, just put his arms around Eddie and looked up at him with a question in his eyes. Then Steve smelt something in the air, was able to taste it on his tongue. He couldn't quite explain how, but Eddie was asking permission. He was asking if this was okay. Steve simply nodded. He was an excellent swimmer....when he had legs. A fish tail was a different story.

Taking his consent, Eddie began to swim with them both. Meanwhile, Steve tried not to stare at the lovely profile before him, or play with the hair curling around his fingers, or fall for a guy he'd just met while searching for another guy he didn't know.

Part 4

[kuronekkosan]

[mangacapsaicin]

youko komori’s a blue fish scale and the town of sand || 小森羊仔の『青い鱗と砂の街』

[veebeeward]

Beach Side

Tags/Warnings:

NBMer!MC x Human!Cove

Fluff

Word count:

1,096

Authors note:

A friend of mine requested a swapped version of the merman Cove fic and so I shall deliver!! I hope it meets peoples expectations and it's a good read! Constructive feedback is appreciated, Enjoy <3

Summary:

MC has known nothing but the ocean, sand and sky their whole life. Their favourite place to go was one beach in particular. The sea was beautiful, warm and the sun always shined so brightly during the summer and it had the best view of the stars. The best of all? Barely anyone was around! So they had the beach all to themselves! Or at least, they thought they did.

MC was enjoying the soft light of the moon as they admired the stars from the ocean's embrace. The view was beautiful, especially from the beach side. This one beach was their favourite. They could enjoy the feeling of the sand against their skin without worrying about anyone finding them there! Like their own private beach. It was a part of "Sunset Bird", a small town. They found this out about a week ago when they found a bucket with the logo on it. They knew learning to read would come in handy.

Just then, there was a sudden sound of moving grains of sand, like someone was stomping on it aggressively. MC immediately shot up at the new sound and dove back into the water. 

Once they thought it was okay to come back up, they peeked out of the water and saw.. a boy? He seemed upset. Angry and sad at the same time. They kept watching to see what he was doing, curious.

The boy kicked some sand before sitting down, hugging his knees to his chest. He looked interesting. His hair was a soft sea green and his sad, reddened eyes were a gleaming blue. Another thing that stood out was his pink cast. He'd been hurt. He looked to be about their age too.

The boy looked down at the sand, drawing something, probably nothing specifically, just moving his finger in circles to leave a dent in the sand. 

MC moved a little closer, trying to get a better look at him since he wasn't looking their way. Just then their eyes met. He seemed scared and jumped to his feet, taking a step back as he stared down at them. He was like a deer in headlights, as their mom would say.

Slowly, MC came up a little out of the water, giving up on the whole sneaky thing since they'd been caught. They offered a small smile as the silence was drowned out literally by the ocean's waves. The boy seemed to calm down a little, his eyes shining with a sort of sparkle they'd see when a kid got their presents for their birthday. This was a good sign! Hopefully.

He walked a little closer to where the water met the sand and knelt down, the tide brushing against his knees, he didn't seem to care. He waved a hand, a determined look on his glowing face. MC brightened up at that and shifted closer, waving a hand back. The kid lit up even more.

"Are you a mermaid? Is this your beach?" He asked, lowering his uninjured hand on the sand which was quickly swallowed by the water. He didn't want to get his other, injured hand wet. 

MC nodded, happy to answer his questions. "Mhm, but the beach isn't mine, you can't own a beach" they said with a small snicker, finding the idea silly. Little did they know. "What are you? A person?" They asked a question of their own, tilting their head as they did. 

"I'm human," he said with a nod. He still seemed to be getting over the initial shock of meeting an actual mermaid. "You're not an actor right?" "An actor?" 

"Some people act like mermaids. I've seen it. They pretend to trick kids, but I know they're fake." He frowned. He wasn't a fan of mermaid actors, that was clear. 

"I don't think I am?" They felt the diamond scales that traced their cheeks with a questioning expression. "I feel pretty real!" He laughed at that, clearly finding the situation funny, but relieved at the same time. 

"Can I..?" He held out his wrapped hand, making his intentions clear. MC nodded and leaned in closer so he could touch their cheek. His hand twitched back at the feeling off it at first, making them flinch a little before he slowly reached out again and properly felt it. His eyes sparkling with awe once again. "Woahhh.." 

He pulled his hand back a few seconds later, now convinced. "What's your name?" "I'm MC" they hummed sweetly. "What's your name?" 

"Cove.." the boy muttered quietly, like he was expecting them to say something. "Cove? Really? That's a nice name" he seemed surprised at that but didn't expand on his thought process at that moment. "Thanks."

Their eyes wandered to his cast and pointed it at. "What's wrong with your arm? Why is it pink?" "Oh.. I got into an accident. I had to get a cast" he responded, looking down at his cast as he lifted it up slightly. They reached out to run a hand over it, the fabric felt weird, but the colour was nice. "Cool"

"You think it's cool?" He said, confused. "Yeah, I think it is" "Oh, cool" he smiled, clearly happy about that. 

He looked so much more different then when he first showed up on the beach, they weren't going to point that out though, at least not yet. They wanted to wait, the right moment to ask about it would come up eventually.

"Cove!!" A voice rang out from afar, startling both of them. It sounded like a man, he sounded worried. Cove spun his head in the direction of the voice, which was coming closer. "My dad.." he said sadly. "Oh, you should go to him then" they said, unaware of the situation. "I don't want to, I want to stay here.." he seemed to root himself deeper into the sand when he said that. "How come? Do you not like him?" "I just don't want to go" he seemed upset all over again, what was wrong? "What if I never see you again? I want to stay here!" He exclaimed. "Cove?! Where are you!" The voice shouted again, much closer this time.

"I know what it's like but you should go back, he's your dad" they were concerned, Cove looked conflicted. "I'll come back tomorrow and we can talk again!" They smiled, clearly having no intention of not meeting again. "You promise?" He whispered, a slight amount of doubt in his tone. "I promise" they pulled their hand up and held out a pinky. Cove leaned forward and wrapped his own pinky around theirs. "Friends?" "Best friends" they said with a sense of certainty, so sure of what they were saying. 

"I should go now, and you should too, your dad is worried about you" they backed up a bit more into the water, Cove hesitated but nodded. With that, they ducked their head back under the water. 

They'd hang out tomorrow.

[vixvaporub]

Slice of Life Recommendations

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Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan

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Manga Recommendations ☉ All Manga Caps

[iamthekaijuking]

I’m back from my vacation!

I have so many pictures that this is probably going to be a series of posts.

So for the first few days I was in Colorado. At the place I stayed there was a mother brown bear and two cubs living in the area (I have a vid but it’s pretty low quality), so the gravel road had bear droppings. There was also lizards and hummingbirds. The hummingbirds in particular fought amongst each other and constantly vocalized at me and my friends to get the feeder out (we had to go into town to get a new one because the old one had mold). A black headed species was brave enough to peck at our shirts from behind! The place I stayed was high in the mountains and I actually handled the altitude pretty well.

Also because weed is legal in Colorado I ate an edible and got high. It sucked ass I hated it.

After those few days we moved to a hotel in a town in Mojave Utah. I saw the arches, a bunch of dinosaur stuff, and went on an off-road tour across the lithified sand dunes in a hummer. That last one was awesome and the hummer was scaling near vertical surfaces.

After that I went to a small hotel in kinda north Utah? It was the middle of nowhere and those were cooldown days with a visit to a national park before I went to Salt Lake City and got ready to come home.

Here’s some random stuff.

There was a funny rest stop in the Mojave desert

A pretty cool bus company logo.

The sands in the Mojave desert were all kinds of colors from gray and tan to blue and red. The latter due to both copper and iron.

[solarsands]

quick question about your video on monumentality; if we’re so small, why do I tower over all things on this world? the vastness stretches out before me, though it is dwarfed by myself.

i view all and see the greatness of the universe laid out before me. the planetary scale merely a small annoyance when compared to my view, all others but injured gnats from my eyes.

towns, cities, skyscrapers, all but mere unnoticeable bumps across the surface. the only thing remotely comparing to me being the space in between planets. the different plants in my cosmic garden, all long since dead except for the ever-blossoming greens and blues of life forms still prosperous.

just wanted to drop a small ask for you to clarify! :)

cuthulu in the solar sands tumblr ask???